The present invention relates to a speech recognition apparatus employing a speech recognition method performed in accordance with the viewpoint (point where the user's eyes are focused on the display screen) of a user and an information processing apparatus using the speech recognition apparatus.
A method for improving the precision of speech recognition by controlling the recognition information contained in communicative information has been proposed. The "recognition information" is managed by a recognition apparatus and includes data consisting of words, sentences, grammar, and frequency of use thereof. For example, in a calendar application, when a speech "i.differential.r" (phonetic symbol) is inputted, if a higher weight is put on a word "year" than a word "ear", the word "year" is more likely chosen. In a likewise manner, the recognition information can be controlled. Further, a method for improving the recognition ability of a recognition apparatus by using image information in speech recognition has been also proposed.
However, in the aforesaid speech recognition method, neither a user's visual direction nor application is taken into consideration. Thus, the recognition information is controlled in accordance with a communicative situation at best. Therefore, the precision of speech recognition greatly depends on the precision of control of the communicative situation. In a case where the recognition information is controlled depending upon communicative situations, it is difficult to quickly make the recognition correspond to different users' manners (communicative situation) which differs from person to person, resulting in the lack of achievement of an adequate speech recognition level and recognition speed cannot be improved.